


House Guest

by BuzzCat



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, merricup - Freeform, modern!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 02:57:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5113574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuzzCat/pseuds/BuzzCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Merida finds a skinny kid from down the hall sleeping on her doorstep in the middle of movie night, she can't just leave him there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	House Guest

Merida sighed and drew the blanket closer around her. Movie night was so much more fun when she wasn't supposed to be awake, or when she had someone with her. On her own, in her own apartment, movie night just felt empty. There was no thrill of knowing her parents would totally disapprove or the validation of having that eventual 2 a.m. conversation with friends about the serious things in life. The credits started rolling and she stretched. She looked at the clock and was surprised to find it was already almost three o'clock in the morning. Merida stood and kept her fuzzy blanket around her, wearing it as a cape to the kitchen. She opened and closed cupboards, looked in the fridge twice, but nothing quite caught her fancy. She plopped back onto the couch with a sigh. Chocolate. She wanted chocolate. She heaved a sigh and stood up, leaving her blanket on the couch and grabbing her thick coat from the closet. The gas station around the corner was 24/7 and they were bound to have something chocolate. Maybe even something alcoholic. She slipped on her boots over fuzzy sock-clad feet and opened the door. She almost tripped over the boy lying in front of her door. He sat up with a shock and Merida stepped back in surprise,

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. No one else in her apartment ever made noise after 11 and most were over the age of 60, leaving Merida to assume that no one else was awake. The boy stood and ran a hand through his rumpled hair. His shirt hung loose on his skinny frame and Merida squinted at him, "Were you _sleeping_?"

"Uh...yeah." said the boy. Merida shook her head,

"What are you doing here?" she asked again. The boy couldn't quite meet her eye,

"I'm staying with my dad; he lives down the hall. Stoick. He has his girlfriend," Merida noticed the distaste in the boy's tone at the mention of the girlfriend, "over and...she's um, staying the night." It clicked in Merida's head and the boy's awkwardness made sense. She winced in sympathy and held her hand out, "Merida."

"Hiccup." said the boy, shaking her hand. She squinted at him,

"Odd name."

"Mom has a sense of humor." he said with a shrug. Merida chewed her lip. She couldn't in good conscience leave Hiccup to sleep in front of her door all night. And even though the gas station was fairly close, it was late and cold and suddenly chocolate didn't seem all that worth the freezing cold trek. She opened her door further,

"Would you like to come in? I'm fairly sure my couch is more comfortable than the floor."

"Weren't you just going out?" he asked.

"Eh. I remembered exactly how cold three in the morning is in the middle of December." she said. Hiccup nodded and followed her into the apartment. He toed his shoes off and walked into the living room as Merida unzipped her coat and slipped off her boots,

"Nice place." he said. Merida snorted,

"You don't have to lie. I know that it's a pit. I haven't seen a solid patch of floor in weeks." she said. Hiccup laughed,

"I guarantee that at school, mine is worse."

"Oh?"

"Your takeout containers don't smell just yet." he said. Merida nodded. She had friends that were messier than her and she understood the measuring stick. She walked into the kitchen/dining room,

"Want something to drink? I have soda, beer, water, and maybe some tea." she said.

"Beer sounds pretty good." She grabbed a can for herself and a can for Hiccup and walked back to the couch, plopping back down into her spot. Hiccup sat at the other end and cracked open his beer. The movie's credits had finished their run and the main menu was back.

"'Die Hard'?" asked Hiccup. Merida nodded as she slurped the beer that had spilled into the rim of the can. Hiccup nodded and sat back,

"I can appreciate excellent taste."

"I just finished. I was thinking 'JAWS' next. You down?"

"Absolutely." said Hiccup. He jumped up and the case off the shelf and put the disc in. As the movie played, Merida found herself wondering more and more at the boy on the other end of her couch instead of how they managed to make the shark look so real. A part of her mind was screaming at her that Hiccup had to go. Who in their right mind lets in a kid they just meet and watches movies like it's entirely okay? And yet...

And yet she was grateful for him. Her night had been just about to take a depressing turn, that kind that ended in a teary phone call to the first person who picked up (usually her mum) and crying about how she was all alone in the country. Those nights usually involved a pretty painful next morning full of hangover and still a little depression. And Hiccup, bless his soul, had just managed to stave that off. And somehow, it felt comfortable. Sitting on the couch and drinking beer watching an old movie filled with sharks and dead people. It felt comfortable. Hiccup felt comfortable. When the credits came up, she didn't want him to leave. By then, it was almost five in the morning. They both stretched after sitting still for so long and Merida pretended not to notice him glancing at her breasts. Stretching had a habit of displaying them to their best advantage and she didn't know that she exactly blamed him; they were kind of perfect. Even she was distracted sometimes. Hiccup glanced at his phone and also realized what time it was,

"Well, any noises that I really don't want to hear are probably done now, so I'll get out of your hair." he said. Merida shrugged,

"Yes, but there is also the possibility of morning sex. Which would take place in about three hours." she said. Hiccup cringed. Merida continued, "Stay the night. The couch is comfy, as you can attest, and I have more blankets I can drag out for you."

"You don't mind?" asked Hiccup. Merida rolled her eyes,

"If I did, would I have offered?"

"True," he said, "Thank you."

"Not a problem." said Merida as she stood up and went to her room, bringing out a couple blankets for Hiccup. He folded one up to use as a pillow and buried himself beneath the rest.

"G'night. Or morning." he said. Merida nodded,

"Good morning. Sleep well."

"You too." said Hiccup. Merida closed her bedroom door. It was strange, having a stranger sleeping on her couch. Still, if his dad was Stoick, she felt more at ease. She'd met Stoick before. He wasn't a bad guy, reminded her of her own dad back in Scotland. Stoick had mentioned having a son named Hiccup. If something went missing, she'd know who to talk to. Before she went to bed though, she locked her bedroom door. Just in case.

The next morning, Merida blinked awake to an amazing smell. A glance at the clock told her it was only eleven, not much sleep considering when she went to bed. Still, it smelled like...food. Actual, cooking food, compared to the takeout she usually lived off of. She slipped into her pajama pants and did a quick check in the mirror for any drool or especially unruly hair (no helping that, she decided) before opening her door. Sure enough, Hiccup was in the kitchen, at the stove, frying something. The blankets she had lent him were neatly folded on the couch and Merida knew right then that she officially had the best accidental house guest in all of America. He turned and smiled to her,

“Good morning.”

“’Morning.” Said Merida, yawning and shuffling over to switch on the coffee pot. She peered over his shoulder at what was on the stove, “Eggs and bacon? We are living high today.”

“I went back and grabbed ‘em from Dad’s fridge. Figured breakfast was a good way to thank an excellent hostess for lending me her sofa for the evening.” He said. Merida smiled,

“Eggs and bacon are the best thank-you.” Just then, Hiccup’s phone rang and he dug around in his pocket, finally pulling out the contraption. He answered it and tucked it between his ear and shoulder as he used one hand to hold the pan and the other to push around the eggs,

“Hello?” A pause, “Yeah, I’m fine Dad. I ended up crashing with Merida down the hall.” Another pause and Hiccup flushed and hissed, “I slept on the couch, Dad. So protection wasn’t an issue.” Merida blushed too and pretended to have not heard that. Hiccup rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’ll be back soon. I was just making her breakfast.” Another pause and Hiccup grabbed a couple paper plates that didn’t have too many pizza crumbs on them and split the eggs and bacon, “Yeah, I’ll be back to walk Toothless in a second. See you then. Bye!” He hung up and handed Merida a plate. She tried a bite and closed her eyes, moaning,

“God, I haven’t had real food in so long.”

“You’re welcome.” Said Hiccup as he started eating as well. Merida took another bite,

“Seriously. I can burn water. You probably know my cupboards better than I do.”

“A deal, then.” Said Hiccup. Merida swallowed her food,

“I’m listening.”

“When my dad is ‘entertaining,’ you let me crash and in return, I make you breakfast.”

“Deal.” Merida replied, holding out her hand. Hiccup shook it and just like that, their lives changed forever.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm accepting prompts for this verse. You can leave them in the comments section, or find me on Tumblr at buzz-cat.tumblr.com


End file.
